John 16; John 17; John 18

John 16

1 "I have told you this, so that you will not give up your faith.

2 You will be expelled from the synagogues, and the time will come when those who kill you will think that by doing this they are serving God.

3 People will do these things to you because they have not known either the Father or me.

4 But I have told you this, so that when the time comes for them to do these things, you will remember what I told you. "I did not tell you these things at the beginning, for I was with you.

5 But now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me where I am going.

6 And now that I have told you, your hearts are full of sadness.

7 But I am telling you the truth: it is better for you that I go away, because if I do not go, the Helper will not come to you. But if I do go away, then I will send him to you.

8 And when he comes, he will prove to the people of the world that they are wrong about sin and about what is right and about God's judgment.

9 They are wrong about sin, because they do not believe in me;

10 they are wrong about what is right, because I am going to the Father and you will not see me any more;

11 and they are wrong about judgment, because the ruler of this world has already been judged.

12 "I have much more to tell you, but now it would be too much for you to bear.

13 When, however, the Spirit comes, who reveals the truth about God, he will lead you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own authority, but he will speak of what he hears and will tell you of things to come.

14 He will give me glory, because he will take what I say and tell it to you.

15 All that my Father has is mine; that is why I said that the Spirit will take what I give him and tell it to you.

16 "In a little while you will not see me any more, and then a little while later you will see me."

17 Some of his disciples asked among themselves, "What does this mean? He tells us that in a little while we will not see him, and then a little while later we will see him; and he also says, "It is because I am going to the Father.'

18 What does this "a little while' mean? We don't know what he is talking about!"

19 Jesus knew that they wanted to question him, so he said to them, "I said, "In a little while you will not see me, and then a little while later you will see me.' Is this what you are asking about among yourselves?

20 I am telling you the truth: you will cry and weep, but the world will be glad; you will be sad, but your sadness will turn into gladness.

21 When a woman is about to give birth, she is sad because her hour of suffering has come; but when the baby is born, she forgets her suffering, because she is happy that a baby has been born into the world.

22 That is how it is with you: now you are sad, but I will see you again, and your hearts will be filled with gladness, the kind of gladness that no one can take away from you.

23 "When that day comes, you will not ask me for anything. I am telling you the truth: the Father will give you whatever you ask of him in my name.

24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name; ask and you will receive, so that your happiness may be complete.

25 "I have used figures of speech to tell you these things. But the time will come when I will not use figures of speech, but will speak to you plainly about the Father.

26 When that day comes, you will ask him in my name; and I do not say that I will ask him on your behalf,

27 for the Father himself loves you. He loves you because you love me and have believed that I came from God.

28 I did come from the Father, and I came into the world; and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father."

29 Then his disciples said to him, "Now you are speaking plainly, without using figures of speech.

30 We know now that you know everything; you do not need to have someone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God."

31 Jesus answered them, "Do you believe now?

32 The time is coming, and is already here, when all of you will be scattered, each of you to your own home, and I will be left all alone. But I am not really alone, because the Father is with me.

33 I have told you this so that you will have peace by being united to me. The world will make you suffer. But be brave! I have defeated the world!"

John 17

1 After Jesus finished saying this, he looked up to heaven and said, "Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your Son, so that the Son may give glory to you.

2 For you gave him authority over all people, so that he might give eternal life to all those you gave him.

3 And eternal life means to know you, the only true God, and to know Jesus Christ, whom you sent.

4 I have shown your glory on earth; I have finished the work you gave me to do.

5 Father! Give me glory in your presence now, the same glory I had with you before the world was made.

6 "I have made you known to those you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me. They have obeyed your word,

7 and now they know that everything you gave me comes from you.

8 I gave them the message that you gave me, and they received it; they know that it is true that I came from you, and they believe that you sent me.

9 "I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those you gave me, for they belong to you.

10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine; and my glory is shown through them.

11 And now I am coming to you; I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world. Holy Father! Keep them safe by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one just as you and I are one.

12 While I was with them, I kept them safe by the power of your name, the name you gave me. I protected them, and not one of them was lost, except the man who was bound to be lost - so that the scripture might come true.

13 And now I am coming to you, and I say these things in the world so that they might have my joy in their hearts in all its fullness.

14 I gave them your message, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.

15 I do not ask you to take them out of the world, but I do ask you to keep them safe from the Evil One.

16 Just as I do not belong to the world, they do not belong to the world.

17 Dedicate them to yourself by means of the truth; your word is truth.

18 I sent them into the world, just as you sent me into the world.

19 And for their sake I dedicate myself to you, in order that they, too, may be truly dedicated to you.

20 "I pray not only for them, but also for those who believe in me because of their message.

21 I pray that they may all be one. Father! May they be in us, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they be one, so that the world will believe that you sent me.

22 I gave them the same glory you gave me, so that they may be one, just as you and I are one:

23 I in them and you in me, so that they may be completely one, in order that the world may know that you sent me and that you love them as you love me.

24 "Father! You have given them to me, and I want them to be with me where I am, so that they may see my glory, the glory you gave me; for you loved me before the world was made.

25 Righteous Father! The world does not know you, but I know you, and these know that you sent me.

26 I made you known to them, and I will continue to do so, in order that the love you have for me may be in them, and so that I also may be in them."

John 18

1 After Jesus had said this prayer, he left with his disciples and went across Kidron Brook. There was a garden in that place, and Jesus and his disciples went in.

2 Judas, the traitor, knew where it was, because many times Jesus had met there with his disciples.

3 So Judas went to the garden, taking with him a group of Roman soldiers, and some Temple guards sent by the chief priests and the Pharisees; they were armed and carried lanterns and torches.

4 Jesus knew everything that was going to happen to him, so he stepped forward and asked them, "Who is it you are looking for?"

5 "Jesus of Nazareth," they answered. "I am he," he said. Judas, the traitor, was standing there with them.

6 When Jesus said to them, "I am he," they moved back and fell to the ground.

7 Again Jesus asked them, "Who is it you are looking for?" "Jesus of Nazareth," they said.

8 "I have already told you that I am he," Jesus said. "If, then, you are looking for me, let these others go.

9 (He said this so that what he had said might come true: "Father, I have not lost even one of those you gave me.")

10 Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the High Priest's slave, cutting off his right ear. The name of the slave was Malchus.

11 Jesus said to Peter, "Put your sword back in its place! Do you think that I will not drink the cup of suffering which my Father has given me?"

12 Then the Roman soldiers with their commanding officer and the Jewish guards arrested Jesus, tied him up,

13 and took him first to Annas. He was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was High Priest that year.

14 It was Caiaphas who had advised the Jewish authorities that it was better that one man should die for all the people.

15 Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. That other disciple was well known to the High Priest, so he went with Jesus into the courtyard of the High Priest's house,

16 while Peter stayed outside by the gate. Then the other disciple went back out, spoke to the girl at the gate, and brought Peter inside.

17 The girl at the gate said to Peter, "Aren't you also one of the disciples of that man?" "No, I am not," answered Peter.

18 It was cold, so the servants and guards had built a charcoal fire and were standing around it, warming themselves. So Peter went over and stood with them, warming himself.

19 The High Priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching.

20 Jesus answered, "I have always spoken publicly to everyone; all my teaching was done in the synagogues and in the Temple, where all the people come together. I have never said anything in secret.

21 Why, then, do you question me? Question the people who heard me. Ask them what I told them - they know what I said."

22 When Jesus said this, one of the guards there slapped him and said, "How dare you talk like that to the High Priest!"

23 Jesus answered him, "If I have said anything wrong, tell everyone here what it was. But if I am right in what I have said, why do you hit me?"

24 Then Annas sent him, still tied up, to Caiaphas the High Priest.

25 Peter was still standing there keeping himself warm. So the others said to him, "Aren't you also one of the disciples of that man?" But Peter denied it. "No, I am not," he said.

26 One of the High Priest's slaves, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, spoke up. "Didn't I see you with him in the garden?" he asked.

27 Again Peter said "No" - and at once a rooster crowed.

28 Early in the morning Jesus was taken from Caiaphas' house to the governor's palace. The Jewish authorities did not go inside the palace, for they wanted to keep themselves ritually clean, in order to be able to eat the Passover meal.

29 So Pilate went outside to them and asked, "What do you accuse this man of?"

30 Their answer was, "We would not have brought him to you if he had not committed a crime."

31 Pilate said to them, "Then you yourselves take him and try him according to your own law." They replied, "We are not allowed to put anyone to death.

32 (This happened in order to make come true what Jesus had said when he indicated the kind of death he would die.)

33 Pilate went back into the palace and called Jesus. "Are you the king of the Jews?" he asked him.

34 Jesus answered, "Does this question come from you or have others told you about me?"

35 Pilate replied, "Do you think I am a Jew? It was your own people and the chief priests who handed you over to me. What have you done?"

36 Jesus said, "My kingdom does not belong to this world; if my kingdom belonged to this world, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish authorities. No, my kingdom does not belong here!"

37 So Pilate asked him, "Are you a king, then?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. I was born and came into the world for this one purpose, to speak about the truth. Whoever belongs to the truth listens to me."

38 "And what is truth?" Pilate asked. Then Pilate went back outside to the people and said to them, "I cannot find any reason to condemn him.

39 But according to the custom you have, I always set free a prisoner for you during the Passover. Do you want me to set free for you the king of the Jews?"

40 They answered him with a shout, "No, not him! We want Barabbas!" (Barabbas was a bandit.)